As interest in sustainable development grows, the ready mixed concrete industry
must be able to support sustainable development, balancing economic prosperity,
social equity, and environmental responsibility. Moving towards a sustainable,
environmentally conscious production model not only reduces environmental
burdens, but also increases efficiency and places ready mixed concrete plants in
a position of industry leadership in the growing green movement. When
effectively communicated to consumers, a progressive stance on sustainability
will allow the concrete industry and its constituents to remain responsibly
competitive.

To certify, plant personnel use the Sustainable Concrete Plant Guidelines
(Guidelines) to rate a plantís level of sustainability within different credit
categories. Plants can achieve between 0 and 100 points depending on how many
sustainability credits are achieved and their level of performance within each
credit. The Guidelines were developed through
generous funding from the RMC Research & Education Foundation. The development
process was managed by NRMCA.

How
to Certify

Plant
personnel use the Guidelines to assess their plant and collect documentation for
those credits for which they are claiming points and submit the documentation to
NRMCA along with appropriate application forms and fees. NRMCA sends the
application and documentation to a third-party auditor who reviews the
application and documentation to determine if the plant meets the criteria
described in the Guidelines for all the points being claimed by the plant. If
the plant meets the Certification criteria NRMCA awards the plant with the
appropriate NRMCA Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification level:

Bronze: 30-49
points

Silver: 50-69
points

Gold: 70-89
points

Platinum:
90-100 points

Join a Webinar

NRMCA periodically offers free Webinars describing
the Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification program. If you missed the Webinar,
you can watch a recording or view the presentation by clicking on one of the
options below:

In some cases, the Sustainable Concrete Plant
Guideline credits may need clarification with regard to intent, metrics,
criteria or documentation. The following is a compilation of questions on
specific credits within the guidelines and their interpretation by NRMCA staff
and industry experts.

Credit

Question

Interpretation

Prereq. 3

My
company has in-house energy auditing expertise. Can I submit an energy
audit produced by our in-house expert to satisfy Prereq. 3?

The purpose of this prerequisite is to verify that the plant is
monitoring energy consumption and that claims made for energy credits in
the guidelines are verified. Therefore it is preferable that the energy
audit be produced by a third party. That being said, an in-house audit
is acceptable, so long as the energy consumption data presented in the
audit is verified by a third party. This is usually in the form of
energy bills or a letter from the utility company or consultant
verifying the energy and or fuel use at the plant for the 12 months
period under consideration. However, as with all credits, the auditor
will make a determination as to whether or not the in-house audit,
combined with third party verified energy usage data, meets the intent
of this pre-requisite.

Prereq. 3

My utility company does not
conduct energy audits and I am having difficulty finding an energy
consultant that will conduct an energy audit at a reasonable cost. What
should I do?

The purpose of this prerequisite
is to verify that the plant is monitoring energy consumption and that
claims made for energy credits in the guidelines are verified. If energy
consumption at the plant was measured and reported as part of the EMS
(See Prerequisite 2) then that would qualify. If the energy company
wonít supply an audit to you, you could submit copies of utility bills
that include the amount of energy consumed for the 12 month period as
verification. The intent of this prerequisite was not to have producers
spend significant amounts of money. However, in reality, a true energy
consultant would provide strategies for conserving energy that could
result in significant cost savings. But it is not required as part of
the prerequisite.

2.1

If you have both a dry
batching unit and a central mixer unit at a single facility, can you get
points for both?

No.
All batching equipment must meet the requirements. So if you have
multiple batching units on a plant site, if one doesnít meet the
requirements, the plant site does not achieve the points for that
credit. If all the batching units meet the requirements then you achieve
the points assigned to that credit. There is a paragraph in the
introductory chapter of the guidelines that addresses this issue:

Note, for the purposes of these Guidelines, a concrete plant is defined
as a property or plant site containing one or more batching units and
associated equipment. When multiple batching units are located on the
plant site, all the batching units and associated equipment must meet
the requirements of the Guidelines in order to achieve points in the
program.

2.8

What is appropriate size
for secondary containment? 110% of largest tank?

Providing a secondary
containment structure capable of holding 110% of the contents of the
single largest tank located in the secondary containment structure is
sufficient for the purposes of this credit unless state or local
regulations require more. For example, some state and local regulations
require the size secondary containment structure to be 110% of all tanks
combined and therefore if a plant meets the state and local regulations
(prerequisite 1) it would also meet the requirements for this credit.

4.1

There is a point available for having a LEED
GA or LEED AP on staff. In our country, we use a green building rating
system called ESTIDAMA. ESTIDAMA has Pearl Qualification Professionals (PQPs)
which has three professional qualifications: PCRs (community), PBRs
(Building) and PVRs (Villa). Would these qualifications be equivalent to
LEED professional accreditations?

Yes, the ESTIDAMA Professional Qualification
Professional certification would be considered equivalent to LEED
professional accreditations for the purposes of this credit.

Auditors

NRMCA is currently seeking auditors for
the Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification program. If you are interested in
participating as an auditor, download and complete the this form:

Below is a list of Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification
Auditors. Auditors are available to act as consultants to concrete producers
seeking Certification. If you engage one of the listed auditors as a consultant
on a Certification submittal, a different Auditor will perform the audit for
your plant.